Millions of fans are now calling for Warner Bros. to "Restore the Snyder-Verse!," but if they just hadn't stopped him before, it would be finished by now. At this point, it may be safe to say that Justice League director Zack Snyder is the most controversial director in superhero movie history. Opinions on his work in general, and especially his DC films, tend to be sharply divided overall. Those who love Snyder's DC movies tend to love them deeply, while those who hate them wish he would just go away already and let others continue the franchise unbothered.
Interestingly enough though, there were indeed some who aren't big on Snyder's movies that still appreciated the Snyder Cut of Justice League finally happening. That was partially due to wanting the fuss over it to end, but also due to the fact that one doesn't have to love Snyder's work to appreciate a years-long fan campaign that managed to convince a major studio to do what they wanted. Plus, the circumstances behind Snyder's exit from Justice League were mixed at best and made WB look pretty bad at multiple points.
While Zack Snyder's Justice League was by no means universally loved, it's clearly regarded as better than Buffy creator Joss Whedon's disastrous version, and many fans do wish WB would let Snyder come back and complete his vision for the DCEU. That seems highly unlikely to happen, even according to Snyder, but the sad thing is, if they had just quit interfering and let Snyder do what he had planned, his arc would be done by now anyway.
Zack Snyder Had a 5-Part Justice League Story Planned
It's become well-known in the years since the release of the Joss Whedon cut of Justice League that Zack Snyder's version of the film was intended to be the third entry in a planned five-movie DCEU arc. Movie one was Man of Steel, which served as a test run for Snyder's vision of Superman, and the second was Batman V Superman, which expanded Snyder's DC universe to include the entire "holy trinity" of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Justice League was to then kick off a trilogy of films starring DC's most famous superhero team, which would've seen major events occur such as a full expansion of the Knightmare and future timeline, the death of Batman, the rise of Darkseid to lead threat, the introduction of several Lanterns, and much more.
One can, of course, already see the seeds being planted for these events in the Snyder Cut of Justice League. One of the biggest departures from Whedon's theatrical cut, besides the wealth of Easter eggs for fans to discover, is the inclusion of the villain Darkseid. Despite not appearing at all in the 2017 cut of the movie, Darkseid is very much positioned as the larger threat and the looming antagonist behind Steppenwolf in Snyder's cut. Sadly, it would appear that these dangling plot threads and character arcs will never be picked up, and WB is just going to move on with the DCEU entirely apart from Snyder. That has led to fan demands to let Snyder continue, but barring a complete reversal from WB and Snyder's stated positions, the fan campaign seems unlikely to succeed this time.
Justice League 2 & 3 Would Have Been Produced At the Same Time
As confirmed publicly by Zack Snyder himself, the original plan was to make Justice League 2 and 3 at the same time. That would've certainly been quite the ambitious undertaking, but also not one that's unheard of for a big blockbuster franchise. This would've likely enabled Justice League 2 and 3 to release about a year apart, much in the style of the MCU's Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame double-header. Since Justice League 2 was originally slated for a 2019 release before Snyder and WB parted ways in 2017, that means Justice League 3 would've probably been initially slated for 2020.
However, a 2020 release might've become impossible due to the Coronavirus pandemic and its various delays, which neither Snyder nor WB ever imagined would be a thing back when planning out Snyder's five-movie arc. Still, even if COVID-19 would have stood in the way of a hypothetical Justice League 3 release in 2020, it still would've likely been done and ready to go for a 2021 arrival once theaters were back open. With theatrical releases now seemingly back in full swing, that means Justice League 3 could well be in theaters right now in some alternate timeline that Snyder fans would no doubt love to find a way to visit. It's an intriguing thought, but also a sad one for anyone who hopes that Snyder's DCEU vision will somehow be allowed to play out onscreen instead of inside their imaginations.
If WB Let Him Finish, the Snyderverse Would Already Be Done
All of the above leads to one unfortunate, but unavoidable truth: if Warner Bros. had just let Zack Snyder be creative and continue to shape the DCEU in his own image, his planned five-movie arc would be over or ending right now. Granted, what Snyder made definitely would have a large share of detractors since, as mentioned previously, Snyder can be divisive, outside of zombie movies. Still, what Snyder planned might be preferable to the cacophony of product that has ended up comprising the DCEU library in lieu of his vision, which has had both big hits and big misses.
That said, it's quite possible all five of Snyder's movies could've made big money. Man of Steel and Batman V Superman already raked in the bucks, and while Justice League didn't, that was with Whedon subbed in for Snyder. If the Snyder Cut had released in theaters, Justice League may well have performed much better. Henry Cavill's status as Superman and Ben Affleck's status as Batman may also be in completely different places than they are today if Justice League 2 and 3 had been allowed by WB to play out in full. The idea of WB having let Zack Snyder finish his DCEU arc is a true "butterfly effect" kind of scenario, as the entire DC and superhero movie landscape could conceivably look completely different had the two sides come to terms. Instead, fans will be left to forever wonder what could've been, and revel in all the behind-the-scenes peeks Snyder has given them over the years.
